North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

But I tried something along those lines to encourage a tree to grow a 
vegetative branch where I wanted it this spring, and I was amazed by how 
successful it was. I took a pocket knife and cut through the bark a little 
above a bud I wanted to sprout, and it did. Looking at the tree, the only 
other "old" bud that sprouted a new branch was one that had a piece of twine 
rubbing against the trunk a little up from the bud.

I was advised to slice below a bud to encourage fruiting, and above to 
encourage vegetative growth. It's worth a try next spring.

Ginda

On Jul 8, 2014, at 9:37 PM, Lee Reich wrote:

> Theoretically, yes. But it's too late now to do it.
> 
> Lee Reich, PhD
> Come visit my farmden at http://leereich.blogspot.com/
> http://leereich.com/
> 
> Books by Lee Reich:
> A Northeast Gardener's Year
> The Pruning Book
> Weedless Gardening
> Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
> Landscaping with Fruit
> Grow Fruit Naturally
> 
> On Jul 8, 2014, at 8:25 PM, AK wrote:
> 
>> Will girdling help my pear tree produce flowers and ultimately, hopefully 
>> fruit as it has neither?
>> Karen,zone 5 WI